Adjustable labeling machine



June 15, 1943.

F. A. CRAIG ADJUSTABLE LABELING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 1 as I '8. B

INVENTOR ATI'ORNEY J1me 1943' F. A. CRAIG 2,321,661

r v ADJUSTABLE LABELING MACHIH E Filed July 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Ii I v Q IVNVENTOR 2 FRANCIS ACE/41G.

-- v 2|- |6. wz WG .1. ATTORNEY Patented June 15, 194-3 hli'llllD STATSQFFICE ADJUSTABLE LABELING MACHINE Francis A. Craig, Worcester, Mass,assignor to Economic Machinery Company,

Worcester,

Application July 5,

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to labeling machines, and particularly tothose of the type wherein each label is transferred from the supplystack to a reciprocatory carrier, which first subjects the label togumming and then deposits it on the bottle or other article to belabeled.

In such a machine, the label magazine or supply stack holder mustregister the labels accurately with the path of travel of the transferdevice, and the label carrier in turn must register in label-receivingposition with the path of said transfer device, and subsequently, inlabel-depositing position with the desired label-receiving area of thebottle or-other article. HeretO fore, these registration requirementshave been a serious handicap on the range of adaptability of suchmachines to labels and bottles of mate'- rially different sizes andshapes, because of the need for substantial centralization of the label,on both the transfer device and the carrier.

My invention overcomes these difficulties by the provision of specialconstructions for the label holder and the label carrier, by which thesedevices, separately and conjointly, can be ad justed, to adapt themachine to a Wide range of label dimensions and shapes, and to a widerange of label positions on the bottles or other articles.

In the label holder of my invention, the various adjustments todifferent sizes and shapes of labels are achieved in such a manner thatthe center line of the stack of labels in said holder will always remainin substantially the same position, relative to the other elements ofthe labeling machine, thus insuring the proper func-- tioning of thoseelements, regardless of the size and shape of any particular label thatis being applied.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention willhereinafter more fully appear from the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- 1 Fig. 1is a fragmentary front elevation of a machine embodying the invention. I

Fig. 2 is a front View on a larger scale of the label carrier and itssupporting member.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of said supporting member.

Fig, 4 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the label carrier in aposition for depositing a label on an article.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation on a larger scale of the holder for the stackof labels.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the label holder as adjusted for a stackof large labels.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the label holder as adjusted for asmaller size of label.

Fig, 8 is a schematic side elevation at right angles to Fig. 1 showingthe relative positions of the several labeling machine elements.

In the labeling machine fragmentarily shown in Fig. 1, there areuprights I, one of which supports horizontal guide bars 2 for thehorizontally reciprocatory supporting member 3 of the label carrier 4.Said carrier receives labels one at a time from a picker 5 and by itssaid movement carries the label over a roller 24 which applies gum tothe underside of the label; thereafter, said carrier deposits the labelon an article A. This article, which in the arrangement shown, is abottle, is supported by a vertically movable bottle rest 6. Thearrangement of the parts of the machine correspond in general to themachine disclosed in the copending Holm application, Serial No. 285,305,filed July 19, 1939.

The label supply shownby Fig. 1 is a stack '1' of labels held nearlyupright, edgewise, by a box or holder to be described in detailhereinafter. The label picker 5 oscillates, in suitably timed relationto the travel of carrier 4, between the full line and broken line.positions shown by Fig. 1; in its upper or full lineposition, saidpicker 5 engages and seizes by suction the endmost label of stack 1, andby its down swing disposes said label in a substantially. horizontalposition, in or' just below the plane traversed by the under surface ofcarrier 4; with the arrival of said carrier over the so-positionedlabel, the suction on the picker 5 is released, and the suction on thecarrier is applied, thereby transferring the label from the picker tothe under surface of the carmen It has been found desirable to have thelabel carried as close as possible to the forward edge la of the carrier4/ As shown in Fig. 3, said carrier has attached to the underside"thereof a rubber element 8 corresponding in shape to the shape of thelabel and positioned adjacent to the forward edge to. Passages throughthis rubber element provide suction connection between the bottom facethereof and the interior of the carrier. With the label engaging element8 in this position, it will be obvious that regardless of the dimensionof the label, the label carrier in advancing into the position of Fig.4' to deposit the label onto the bottle, will not travel forwardly anyfarther than is necessary and will leave visible to the operator all ofthe portion of the bottle above or in front'of the label.

For accommodating the label carrier to difin Fig. 1.

For interchangeability, to permit the handling of labels of varioussizes and shapes, the carrier 4 as here shown is constituted by asuction box II to the underside of which is removably connected a plateI2, the latter having secured thereto the rubber label engaging element8. In

this way, whenever a label of different size or shape is to be used inthe machine, the plate I2 is readily removed and replaced by acorresponding plate having the proper size and shape of label carryingelement mounted there- The label holder is especially adapted for quickadjustment to accommodate labels of various dimensions and shapes and atthe same time to keep the label stack so located that the individuallabels will be transferred from the stack to the proper position on theunderside of the label carrier. Since the bottles or other articles tobe labeled are usually substantially centered on the article support, itis obvious that the center line of the stock of labels should alwayshave the same relative position in the machine, regardless of the sizeor shape of the label. That is, the longitudinal center line of eachstack of labels must be kept substantially in the plane represented bythe dot-dash line I3 of Figs. 5 and '7. As shown in Figs. 5 to '7inclusive, the label holder comprises a base member I4 which may ifdesired be adjustably supported on one of the side frames I as shown Thebase member I4 carries opposed upright side plates I5 at opposite sidesthereof which are adjustable toward or away from each other by releaseof the locking screws I6 which secure the plates to the base. The latteris slotted at I! to receive a suitable guide I5 on the underside of eachplate. Each of the plates I5, I5 along its upper edge carries anelongated finger l8, said fingers at their inner endsbeing inturnecl, asshown at I9, l9, in opposed relation; thus, with the plates I5, I5 soadjusted that the spacing between fingers I8, I8 is substantially thedistance between the upper and lower edges of a label of stack L or L(Figs. 5, 6 and '7), the finger portions I9, 19 serve to hold such stackupright,

by their slight overlap of the endmost label thereof.

Between the two plates I5 is positioned a removable plate 20constituting the bottom of the .label holder, said plate 20 beingsuitably attached to base I4 as by a screw orbolt 2|. The upper surfaceof this plate 20 carries a pair of spaced elongated fingers 22 parallelwith the fingers l8, l8 and contacted by a side edge of each label ofthe stack L, the inner ends of fingers 22, 22 having upturned portionslea, I9a

that overlap slightly the lower side edge of the fer pad to the articleto be labeled, will be centrally and properly positioned on the article.That is to say, if relatively large labels, as shown at L, Fig. 5, areto be applied, then the machine is equipped with a plate 20 which isthin enough so that its fingers 22 will support a stack of labels withthe center line in the proper position.

If it is desired to use the machine for applying a much smaller label L,Fig. 7, the only adjustments necessary are the closer spacing of theside plates I5 and the replacement of the central removable plate 28 byanother similar plate 2!) enough thicker than the plate 20 so that thecenter line of the stack of labels will still be in the same positionwith respect to the supporting structure. Obviously, a label holder ofthis type is adapted for the support of labels of irregular shape. Thus,as shown in Fig. 7, the removable plate 20' is built up so that its twofingers 22' carried thereby are in vertically staggered relation to eachother to support a stack of labels L, whose side edges are convergent,as shown. The dot-and-clash lines in Fig. 7 show the position of theparts of the label holder when adjusted to the position of Fig. 6.

It will thus be seen that the change-over of the machine from one sizeand shape of label to a different size and shape of label is acomparatively simple procedure; any difierence in the Width of the labelis taken care of by selecting a plate 25 of the proper thickness, or bychanging the efiective length of said plate in the holder, by buildingit up ordown as the case may require; any difference in the height ofthe label is taken care of by in or out adjustments of the plates I5,I5. The label carrier 4 is readily adapted to such a change, merely byreplacing its plate I2 with another similar plate carrying an aperturedrubber or like label engaging, element 8 corresponding in contour to thenew size of label, and the entire label carrier 4 as a unit is adjustedlongitudinally of the machine, so that the suction element 8 on theunderside thereof will be in accurate alinement with the label when thelatter is moved by the picker from the stack of labels to a positionbeneath the carrier 4. Since the article support 5 is also removable andreplaceable, the machine can very rapidly be adapted to different sizesand shapes of articles merely by the removal of one article support andthe substitution of a different and properly shaped article support orbottle rest.

In the operation of my machine, assuming its parts to have been properlyadjusted in the manner above described, each downward movement of picker5 removes the endmost label from the stack and carries the same, faceup, to a substantially horizontal position directly below the path oflabel carrier 4, at which point said label will be in direct alinementwith the bottle to which the label is to be applied, although obviouslythe label at this time is offsetinwardly of the machine from the bottle,as shown by the position of picker 5 in the diagram of Fig. 8. The labelcarrier 4 then moves intoa position directly above the label on thepicker, whereupon by release of the pickers suction and application ofthe carriers suction, the label is transferred to said carrier andconveyed thereby over suitable gumming mechanism 23 (Fig. 8) whichincludes a gum roll 24, for the application of adhesive to the undersideof the label. The carrier 4 then conveys the label to a positiondirectly above the bottle, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the label may betransferred directly to the bottle in predetermined relation to thefront of the bottle.

It will thus be apparent that the position to which the carrier 4 isadjusted, relative to its supporting member 3, is of major importance inassuring proper location of the label on the carrier and also accuratelocation of the label subsequently on the bottle.

It may be noted that in the machine shown, a vertically movable pressurepad 25 located above the bottle, is moved downwardly after the label hasbeen applied to the bottle by the carrier, and assures a properattachment of the entire area of the label to the bottle or otherarticle.

I claim:

In a labeling machine of the class described, a label magazine whereinthe labels stand sub stantially upright on edge in stack formation, saidmagazine having adjustable sides in opposition to the two upright edgesof each label in said stack, inturned spurs on said sides in overlappingrelation to the endmost label of said stack, the bottom of said magazinebeing vertically adjustable, to maintain the center line of said stack,for different sizes and shapes of labels at substantially the leveldefined by the engagement of said spurs with said endmost label.

FRANCIS A. CRAIG.

